Real Life Hero

One of the things I love about writing crime is that I am compelled to consult with some of the coolest, most adventurous experts on the planet. One such expert who very generously gave me his time for a couple of phone calls outlining the basics of his work has now written a book of his own!

The Retriever: The True Story of a Child Retrieval Expert and the
Families he has Reunited By Grantlee Kieza, Keith Schafferius.

If the brief conversations I had with Keith Schafferius are anything to go by, this book will be a gripping read, providing insight into the high-stakes and sometimes heartbreaking work of retrieving abducted children.

Picture of Keith Schafferius
Keith Schafferius, Child Retrieval Detective

“Schafferius once posed as a Hollywood movie mogul, using a forged British Honduras passport and fake ID to win the confidence and support of Middle East officials, while trying to retrieve two abducted children.”

 

 

Keith helped me understand some of the ways in which an investigator might trace an international skip, so that I could construct a credible series of steps for my protagonist to follow as she tracked down an absconded fraudster (and possible murderer).

I am thrilled Keith has put his experiences into a book of his own, with the able assistance of journalist Grantlee Kieza, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!

Poison and justice …

poison doughnut

I’ll blog about this fabulous Criminal Brief overview of self-publishing over at Speakeasy, but it is so useful I want to share it here as well – for two reasons.

In itself, it is a sage warning about the pitfalls of vanity publishing for writers (‘Neither authors nor readers are well-served by self-published fiction’), while outlining the usefulness of self-publishing for certain projects. 

But also, the site is one for crime buffs to watch, being A Mystery Short Story Web Log Project. Super cool!

~

Fictional or in real life, Melbourne’s upcoming Crime and Justice Festival has it covered. I am crying into my beautiful Pulp Fiction Press edition of Cocaine Blues that I won’t make it to hear Kerry Greenwood. If someone in the blogosphere is going, can you please tweet the highlights? Let me know so I can follow you!

~

Cake Week at the poison doughnut!  I want cake week at QWC!

~

Welcome to my new blog!

If you know me, you know I love reading and writing crime fiction, and being a mama. I’ve figured out a way to combine my interests: now I study maternal feminist crime fiction!

I can’t stop until the case is closed [to paraphrase Sara Paretsky]…

If you like crime fiction too, or if you’re a parent struggling to find the elusive work/life balance, join me here at mamaguilt to share and explore our experiences.